The following discussion is not an admission that anything described below is common general knowledge or citable as prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,607 describes a hollow fiber polymeric membrane supported by a braided textile tube. The braided tube is sufficiently dense and tightly braided that it is round stable before being coated with a membrane dope. The membrane polymer is located primarily on the outside of the braid. This type of structure has been used very successfully in the ZeeWeed™ 500 series membrane products currently sold by GE Water and Process Technologies. In particular, this type of supported membrane has proven to be extremely durable in use.